Fireworks and green laser

Steve Foley said:
Refusing to testify before a grand jury is not the same thing as refusing to talk to a police officer. My first statement was "short of a court order". When a judge tells you to answer the question, which I'm sure happened in in the grand jury, that is a court order.
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There is no judge in a grand jury hearing.
 
I hope they catch and prosecute the guilty party. What may have been a lucky time that Jesse didn't have any ill side effects, what's to say the next victim won't? I know here in Florida, laser sightings in the aircraft have made the news a lot.
 
CMTowner said:
I hope they catch and prosecute the guilty party. What may have been a lucky time that Jesse didn't have any ill side effects, what's to say the next victim won't? I know here in Florida, laser sightings in the aircraft have made the news a lot.
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What kind of aircraft?

Any prosecutions?
 
Mainly helicopters and the airliners. There have been a few arrests that I know of.
 
So far I haven't really heard anything from Lincoln PD. I also called the FBI and the lady there seemed to have no idea and said she wasn't aware of it being a crime but would forward it to her supervisor.

Meanwhile the clock ticks.
 
jesse said:
So far I haven't really heard anything from Lincoln PD. I also called the FBI and the lady there seemed to have no idea and said she wasn't aware of it being a crime but would forward it to her supervisor.

Meanwhile the clock ticks.
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Does the city, county or state have an aviation unit near there? Surely they'd get the seriousness and might be able to "educate" the patrol officers in the process.
 
Hopefully the kids that did this didn't mean any harm and I suspect they had no idea what the laser could do inside the cockpit, with any luck your flyer will at least educate them and scare them a bit so that it never happens again.
 
jesse said:
I doubt the idiot knew that they were committing a felony nor did they know how annoying their attack was. I am planning on printing a few flyers and hanging them on that block so that they will understand and hopefully not do it in the future.
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On the flyer, I love the panel on your 150!! :D
 
Perhaps the next time a meth cook's house explodes, we should feed the media a story about how it was really a DHS Predator armed with Hellfires, that automatically engaged, when illuminated by a laser. <g>
 
A friend at work had a green laser pointed at his plane on Wednesday while out looking at fireworks. Another pilot on frequency suggested he call SEA APP, which he did. They were quite interested.
 
ABC News just had a report on lasers shined at aircraft. 2011, there were 3,500+ reported incidents. Being caught at it will cost you $11,000 in civil penalties per incident, $250,000 in criminal penalties plus 5 years in jail. Based on the previous info posted by Cap't Ron, this shows it is up by more than 1,000 over 2010.
Maybe LPD should listen to ABC. Maybe you could point out the FAA website to them.
ABCNews demo of a $50 green laser pointed at the cockpit of a aircraft 1/4 mile away lit up the pilots side. What would this one do? I could see it being a real issue for us low and slow pilots.
 
How about a law (or at least a recommendation) that all green laser pointers be sold with a label on the box along the lines of "Pointing this LASER at an aircraft is a Federal Felony punishable by 20 years in prison."

Maybe include a note about how it can blind the pilot, and there's always a chance that the aircraft is police/military and very well may pinpoint your location for the local cops. People who buy these things need to be made aware that pointing them at aircraft is a big deal.
 
silver-eagle said:
ABC News just had a report on lasers shined at aircraft. 2011, there were 3,500+ reported incidents. Being caught at it will cost you $11,000 in civil penalties per incident, $250,000 in criminal penalties plus 5 years in jail. Based on the previous info posted by Cap't Ron, this shows it is up by more than 1,000 over 2010.
Maybe LPD should listen to ABC. Maybe you could point out the FAA website to them.
ABCNews demo of a $50 green laser pointed at the cockpit of a aircraft 1/4 mile away lit up the pilots side. What would this one do? I could see it being a real issue for us low and slow pilots.
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The "Wicked 1W Spyder 3 Krypton Green Laser" can cause permanent eye damage up to 733 ft and flash blindness out to almost 3500 ft according to the this informative article:

http://www.laserpointersafety.com/page52/laser-hazard_diagram/different-lasers-compared.html
 
I still haven't heard a word from either LPD or the FBI even acknowledging that they're investigating it. I'll put up my flyers Monday.
 
MassPilot said:
How about a law (or at least a recommendation) that all green laser pointers be sold with a label on the box along the lines of "Pointing this LASER at an aircraft is a Federal Felony punishable by 20 years in prison."

Maybe include a note about how it can blind the pilot, and there's always a chance that the aircraft is police/military and very well may pinpoint your location for the local cops. People who buy these things need to be made aware that pointing them at aircraft is a big deal.
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how about a requirement for a background check and finger printing, and a permit?
 
Bob Noel said:
how about a requirement for a background check and finger printing, and a permit?
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:rofl: I knew that response was coming. Like restricting the sale of a product has anything to do with printing some extra words on the box. Or is this the "slippery slope" theory?

I'm not a big fan of new regulations either. The ideal solution would be to convince the manufacturers of these lasers to add the warning voluntarily. What would they have to lose?
 
MassPilot said:
:rofl: I knew that response was coming. Like restricting the sale of a product has anything to do with printing some extra words on the box. Or is this the "slippery slope" theory?

I'm not a big fan of new regulations either. The ideal solution would be to convince the manufacturers of these lasers to add the warning voluntarily. What would they have to lose?
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The warnings might even give the dimwits ideas.
 
jesse said:
I still haven't heard a word from either LPD or the FBI even acknowledging that they're investigating it. I'll put up my flyers Monday.
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Interesting to me that we are a nation of laws, with very selective enforcement. :rolleyes:
 
jesse said:
I still haven't heard a word from either LPD or the FBI even acknowledging that they're investigating it. I'll put up my flyers Monday.
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Not trying to minimize your frustration with the Lincoln PD, but does the state or city have a law against pointing a laser at an aircraft?
 
Geico266 said:
Interesting to me that we are a nation of laws, with very selective enforcement. :rolleyes:
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That's longstanding precedent. Easier to snare the tricky ones on a technicality.

The super villain who cut those tags off his mattress, should watch out, you know.
 
silver-eagle said:
ABCNews demo of a $50 green laser pointed at the cockpit of a aircraft 1/4 mile away lit up the pilots side. What would this one do? I could see it being a real issue for us low and slow pilots.
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In regards to what "this one" does, I give up. So what would lead a legitimate consumer to need a green laser capable of "penetrating space" for? Seriously, who stands "85 miles" from their presentation board?
 
MassPilot said:
:rofl: I knew that response was coming. Like restricting the sale of a product has anything to do with printing some extra words on the box. Or is this the "slippery slope" theory?

I'm not a big fan of new regulations either. The ideal solution would be to convince the manufacturers of these lasers to add the warning voluntarily. What would they have to lose?
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The parallel to Massachusetts firearms wasn't obvious? :)

Anyway, lasers don't already have a warning? I remember seeing the laser warning on CD players (which is beyond stupid).
 
Josh_C said:
In regards to what "this one" does, I give up. So what would lead a legitimate consumer to need a green laser capable of "penetrating space" for? Seriously, who stands "85 miles" from their presentation board?
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There are legitimate uses for such a device.

I personally have used them for holography and determining the point spread function for a lens.

There are still amateur and professional scientists that use powerful lasers. Amateur astronomers do use these lasers for pointing to stuff in the sky and they are generally careful to avoid aircraft. Running a laser on an integral battery makes it a lot easier to use without another set of wires.

The question reminds me of similar questions with respect to owning some types of firearms-why does one need an assault rifle for hunting?

We already have laws regarding the inappropriate use of firearms and lasers and they should be enforced without infringing on the ownership of these devices for legitimate uses.
 
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> We already have laws regarding the inappropriate use of firearms and
> lasers and they should be enforced without infringing on the ownership
> of these devices for legitimimate (sic) uses.

+1
 
Bob Noel said:
The parallel to Massachusetts firearms wasn't obvious? :)
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It was pretty obvious to me, but since I'm a fellow gun-toting Mass Hole, it really couldn't be otherwise.

I'm not sure it's such a good analogy. A firearm really isn't useful unless it does some type of damage, even to a paper target. A green laser really won't do any damage unless it's to someone's eyes. A green laser can hit almost anything without doing damage. There aren't many things my .38 can hit without doing at least some damage.
 
silver-eagle said:
ABC News just had a report on lasers shined at aircraft. 2011, there were 3,500+ reported incidents. Being caught at it will cost you $11,000 in civil penalties per incident, $250,000 in criminal penalties plus 5 years in jail. Based on the previous info posted by Cap't Ron, this shows it is up by more than 1,000 over 2010.
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I assume those penalties are what you could get, not what you actually will get. 5 years in jail for shining a laser at a plane is probably excessive. I've seen several reports of people arrested, but i don't recall hearing much about what eventually happened to them. Anyone know more about the outcomes of these arrests?

It appears the FBI recruited one of the guys they arrested to help spread the word that this is dangerous and illegal. That seems far more productive than tossing him in jail for a few years.
 
jesse said:
I still haven't heard a word from either LPD or the FBI even acknowledging that they're investigating it. I'll put up my flyers Monday.
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Have you thought of calling your local FSDO? They may be able to help get the LEO's into gear.

Cheers.

-ars

PS -- I didn't read the fax link before, tl;dr etc.
 
Steve Foley said:
It was pretty obvious to me, but since I'm a fellow gun-toting Mass Hole, it really couldn't be otherwise.

I'm not sure it's such a good analogy. A firearm really isn't useful unless it does some type of damage, even to a paper target. A green laser really won't do any damage unless it's to someone's eyes. A green laser can hit almost anything without doing damage. There aren't many things my .38 can hit without doing at least some damage.
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Growing up in NY and now living in Mass, I sometimes forget that permits and fingerprinting aren't the norm in this country. It's even worse where I live, because it's technically part of the City of Boston.

If I wanted a license just to buy a handgun and carry it secured and unloaded to a range and back, I'd need to take a marksmanship test at the Boston Police firing range. Then I could buy any handgun on the "approved list" (Glocks and many others are not included). I would need a damn good reason with all kinds of proof in order to get a CCW permit.
 
MassPilot said:
I would need a damn good reason with all kinds of proof in order to get a CCW permit.
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It's truly sad how arbitrary the licensing is in Mass.

In Worcester, the police chief has a written policy that will only grant a CCW to law enforcement.

The next town out where I live, I sat through a three hour powerpoint presentation given by the town, and received CCW with no restrictions. I hadn't touched a firearm in over thirty years, but I have a license to carry which allows me to carry concealed in Boston, or any other city or town in the Commonwealth.
 
inexperienced concealed gun toters, now that's scary.
 
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